“This whole conversation is ridiculous. My dad has been here all evening. We had dinner, watched a movie, and were all sleeping until Jules called.”
Suddenly, a large hand comes out and grabs the phone out of Lauren’s hand. Much to my shock, Mr. Allen’s face appears on the screen. He doesn’t have a mark on him.
How can that be possible? I know what I saw.
“Jules, I promise you that I’m fine. I don’t know what’s going on or why you think someone abducted me, but Lauren is right. I’ve been sleeping for hours.”
“But I saw you bloody and bruised. Some guys locked you in the trunk of their car and drove off with you. I didn’t know what to do, so I reported the situation to the police.”
Mr. Allen’s face relaxes, his frown drifting away. “If the person you saw was bloody and bruised, I can see how you might have mistaken whoever this was for me.”
I’m shaking my head, bewildered. “That’s not possible. It was you…” I snap my mouth closed because, obviously, it wasn’t him and I’m making a complete fool of myself.
Officer Mann cuts in politely. “It must have been a case of mistaken identity. It was late at night. In low visibility situations, your eyes can play tricks on you. We’re sorry to bother you, sir.”
Lauren’s dad responds, “It’s no bother. I hope you find whoever that was. He sounds like he’s in serious danger.”
“I’ve already called it in. Our dispatchers put the word out a little while ago. Every officer in the vicinity will be on the lookout for anything suspicious.”
When the call ends, I just begin talking, unsure if I’m talking to the nice officer or myself. “I don’t understand. I saw Mr. Allen sitting on the bumper of that car. It was him, I know it was.” My hand comes up and I rub my right temple because it feels like there is a migraine building there.
“They say everyone has a doppelganger. Maybe you saw his.”
“I know what I saw,” I say, but I can hear the wobble in my voice.
“It’s possible you saw some kind of fraternity prank,” he says, cutting me off. “This is a college town after all. Hazing situations can look pretty alarming from the outside, especially at night on the highway.”
That’s not right. Fraternities haze at the beginning of the semester during rush week. Summer break just started. I quickly point out, “But they chased me and they tried to run me off the road. Why would they do that over a hazing prank?”
“I don’t know that it was a prank. It might have been a real abduction. And we’re taking this case seriously.” He picks his pen back up. “There are eyes and ears on the lookout rightnow and I’ll make sure every shift is made aware that this is an open case.”
“Alright,” I stammer. “I guess it doesn’t matter who it was, as long as we try to find him.”
“Yes, ma’am. Can you tell me more about this dark sedan.”
“Yes, it looked more black than dark blue. I remember thinking it was either a Lincoln or a Cadillac.”
“Would you be willing to review some mug shots to see if you recognize any of the males in our database that fit the descriptions? We might get lucky.”
I nod, feeling better about the situation. “Yeah, I’d be happy to do that. Anything to help us find this man before something worse happens to him.”
I spend hours looking through mugshots as we talk more in-depth about what I saw. I don’t recognize any of the faces he picked for me to look at, which wasn’t altogether unexpected but disappointing just the same. The sun is breaking over the horizon by the time I walk out to my car and head back to my apartment.
I sit in the driver’s seat for a few minutes, reading over my copy of the police report. It’s all there in black and white, every single thing I saw last night. I fold it and slide it into my purse before pulling out and heading home. I’ve got Mrs. Watkins’ sketch to finish, but I think I might get some shut-eye first.
I half expect that dark sedan to be lurking around, waiting to jump me again. But thankfully, they are nowhere in sight. Still, something is niggling at the back of my mind. I’m unsettledand a bit jumpy. I know that I’ll be having nightmares about the haunted look in his eyes and that one hand reaching out to me.
***
As I let myself into my apartment the fear follows me. My roommate left after graduation and it’s just me here now. The rent is paid up to the end of the month, but after that I don’t know what’s happening. I guess if I start making money on commissions, then I can afford it by myself. If not, then I’ll have to look for somewhere smaller.
My thoughts go back to my brother. Part of me wants to call him and tell him what happened tonight. Tommy has always been protective of me, but I don’t want him to feel like he has to be a parent. He might have raised me since I was twelve, but at twenty-two, I’m old enough to take care of myself and fight my own battles. He’s got his new life in Cedar Falls now, and he doesn’t need his kid sister piling her troubles on him.
My cat, Fluffy, rushes to meet me and I stroke her head as I glance around, half expecting something to jump out of the shadows. Finally, the feel of her soft fur under my hand starts to soothe me and my heart rate slows. I know there’s no way I’m going to get any sleep now, and I reach for my sketch pad. But instead of the Watkins’ great-grandmother, I turn it to a fresh sheet and get out my pencils. The man’s face is so clear in my mind as I sketch him. I also try and remember what the other men looked like. I pored over hundreds of mugshots at the station, but none were familiar, and I want to get these faces down while my memory is fresh.
Though something tells me that I’m never going to forget them.
Chapter 2
